Attachment means for shoe heels



July 3, 1962 J. M. RAKUS 3,041,746

ATTACHMENT MEANS FOR SHOE HEELS FIG. 2

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ATTORNEYS July 3, 1962 J. M. RAKUS 3,041,746 ATTACHMENT MEANS FOR SHOEHEELS Filed April 1, 1960 3 SheetsSheet 2 llll FIG,

INVENTOR JOZEF M. RAKUS ATTCRNEYS July 3, 1962 J. M. RAKUS 3,041,746

ATTACHMENT MEANS FOR SHOE HEELS Filed April 1, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 3JOZEF M. RAKUS ATTORNEYS United rates atent @fifice 3,041,746 PatentedJuly 3, 1962 3,041,746 ATTACHMENT MEANS FOR SHOE HEELS Jozef M. Rakns,P.0. Box 1749, Washington 13, D.C. Filed Apr. 1, 1960, Ser. No. 19,342 6Claims. (Cl. 36-36) This invention relates to shoes generally, and morespecifically to heels for shoes and the attachment structure forsecuring the same to said shoes.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a simplifiedstructure for removably attaching a wear lift to a heel base on a shoe.

A more specific object of this invention is to provide an improvedattaching structure for shoe heels whereby wear lifts from a pair ofshoesmay be readily interchanged without necessitating the efforts of askilled shoe repair craftsman.

A further object of this invention is to provide an inexpensivestructure for removably attaching a heel wear lift to a shoe whereby anunskilled person may readily remove the wear lift from One shoe forinterchangeable attachment with another shoe.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a supportingstructure for a shoe heel including a suction cup which in operativeposition acts to retain the wear lift in engaging proximity with theheel base of an ordinary shoe.

A more specific object of this invention is torprovide a releasablesuction cup connecting means for securing a wear lift to a heel base ona shoe whereby the suction cup may be made effective or ineffective inholding the lift in fixed position on the shoe by means of a simplesecondary attachment including a threaded screw member.

Another object of this invention in a modified form thereof is toprovide an arrangement for connecting a wear lift to a heel base inwhich the base engaging surface of the wear lift is formed as a suctioncup to be secured against the lift by a secondary attachment element.

With the foregoing and other objects in view the invention resides inthe following specification and appended claims, certain embodiments anddetails of construction of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary view of a shoe illustrating the invention insectioned side elevation;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating the heel base ofthe shoe of this invention;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of a wear lift for attachment to the shoeof FIGURES 1 and 2;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view of the heel of FIGURE 3 taken along thelines 44 of FIGURE 3 with the attachment screw removed;

FIGURE 5 is a detailed sectioned view of the suction cup utilized forattaching the wear lift of FIGURE 3 to the heel base of FIGURE 2 asillustrated in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 6 is a sectioned fragmentary view in side elevation of a modifiedform of the invention;

FIGURE 7 is a sectioned View taken along the lines 77 of FIGURE 6;

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary sectioned view in side elevation of a furthermodified form of the invention;

FIGURE 9 is a sectioned view taken along the lines 9-9 of FIGURE 8;

FIGURE 10 is a detailed view of the modified form of the invention ofFIGURE 8 with the wear lift of the shoe removed from the shoe;

FIGURE 11 is' a perspective view of the wear lift applied to themodified form of FIGURE 8;

FIGURE 12 is a fragmentary, partially sectioned view in elevation of afurther attaching means for a wear lift of this invention which may beapplied to the forms of the invention of FIGURES l, 6 and 8;

FIGURE 13 is a sectioned view taken along the lines 13-13 of FIGURE 12;

FIGURE 14 is a sectioned view in side elevation of another form of theinvention;

FIGURE 15 is an exploded view of the form of the invention illustratedin FIGURE 14; and

FIGURE 16 is a perspective view of the wear lift used in the inventionof FIGURE 14.

Now with reference to FIGURE 1 a shoe 1 is illustrated in fragmentaryform with an insole 2 under which is usually mounted a layer of felt,cork or the like 3, a sole member of leather 4, and a heel, base 5 towhich is attached a rubber wear lift 6. As illustrated in FIGURE 1 thesole member of the shoe is tapped at 7' and recessed at 8 to'receive theflange of a retaining tubular member 9 which extends through the soleand downwardly therefrom. The member 9 is interiorly and exteriorlythreaded at It) and 11 respectively. A suction cup 12 having a tappedcentral opening 13 of somewhat smaller diameter than the external threaddiameter of the member 9 is provided, whereby, upon screwing the suctioncup 12 onto the exterior threads 11 of the member 9, a firm sealedconnection will be had, and the suction cup may be screwed firmlyagainst the bottom of the sole member 4 as is illustrated in FIGURE 1.The heel base 5 is provided with a stud 14 which is utilized foralignment purposes of the wear lift 6 on the lift. The stud 14 isreceived in a recess 15 in the wear lift, thereby preventing the lift 6from rotating about the axis of the connecting member 9. With referenceto FIGURES 3 and 4 it will be noted that the lift 6 is undercut at 16 toprovide a locking cavity for the peripheral edge '17 of the suction cup12.

In attaching the lift 6 to the base 5, the lift is placed firmly againstthe edge 17 of the suction cup :12 and is forced by hand pressure sothat the suction cup will tend to spread into the cavity 16. At thispoint an attaching screw 18 having an extremely large head surface area19 is directed through the opening 20 of the lift and into threadedengagement with the threads it} of the member 9. Lift 6 is provided withan arcuate recess 21 to accommodate the head 19 of screw 18. Byutilizing a coin or a screw driver a few pounds additional pressure maybe exerted by the screw 18 to prevent separation of the suction cup fromthe inner surface of the lift. The screw performs two functions. Itprimarily seals off the central area of the suction cup, since the screwdiameter is greater than the diameter of lift opening 20, andsecondarily provides an additional attachment element for the lift 6 tothe base 5. The primary attachment member is the suction cup and not thescrew member 18. In other words the suction cup 12 efiects a holdingaction over a substantial, recessed, interior area of the lift. That is,the suction cup 12. is not merely holding the wear lift at the centralpoint where the screw is located. In other words the screw is primarilya sealing means for the suction cup device and secondarily is anattachment element for lift 6.

Now with reference to FIGURES 6 and 7 there is illustrated a modifiedform in which the prime difference over the form of FIGURE 1 is in thedesign of the suction cup member itself. It will be readily seen thatthe suction cup 22, instead of terminating in an upper planar surface asin FIGURE 5, is provided with a laterally extending lip area 23 which issuper'imposed upon the inner surface of the sole member 24 and may beaffixed thereto as by an adhesive or stitching or any other mannercommon in the shoe art. The insole 25 of the shoe 26 overlies the uppersurface of the suction cup 22. The l wer extremity portion of thesuction cup 22 is not unlike the suction cup of FIGURE 5 in that it hasan outwardly extending lip area 27 which engages in a recessed portion28 of a wear lift 29, whereby upon compression of the lift 29 againstthe suction cup the cup will be spread in the usual manner tointerengage with the recess 28 of the lift 29 so that an effectivesuction cup holding arrangement is had over the entire inner surface ofthe lift 29.

In the embodiment of FIGURES 6 and 7 the suction cup 22 is provided withan internally molded or placed nut 30 which is internally threaded toreceive an attachment and sealing screw 31 of a type similar to screw 18of FIGURE 1. The form of FIGURES 6 and 7 is furtheir provided with ananchoring stud 32. The head 33 of the stud is illustrated as beingmolded into the formation of the heel base 34, while the pronged noseportion 35 thereof is forced into the material of the lift 29 uponassembly of the heel to the shoe. The purpose of the member 32 isidentical with that of the member 14 in the embodiment of FIGURE 2. Thatis, the prime purpose of member 32 is to prevent the wear lift fromrotating about the axis of attachment screw 31. The lift 29 is assembledto the heel base 34 of shoe 26 in the same manner as in the form ofFIGURE 1. The secondary attachment screw Blextends through an opening atthe base of a lift recess 36 to engage nut 30 and simultaneouslyfunctions to seal the suction area below cup 22.

With reference to the form of the invention in FIG- URES 8, 9 and itwill be noted that a tubular attachment member 37 extends completelythrough a suction cup 38 and is provided with internal threads 39 toreceive the threaded shank 40 of an attachment screw 41. The upper end42 of the tube 37 is flared outwardly to engage and be secured to as bywelding a plate member 43 having substantial area. The plate member 43engages upon the upper surface of the sole member 44 whereby to retainthe tubular member 37 from moving outwardly from the sole member. Inthis position therefore the suction cup 38 is afiixed to the bottom ofthe sole member 44 by the tubular member 37. The member 37 is providedwith an enlarged head 45 to engage and hold the under surface of the cup38. Then upon assembly the wear lift 46 is pressed against the suctioncup 38 until the cup is substantially flattened against the surface oflift recess 47 at which point the screw member 41 is threaded into thetubular member 37 to retain the assembly in the set position. AlsO, asin the forms of the invention above, the screw member 41 acting with thesurrounding rubber of the lift 46 at the tapped portion thereof preventsleakage or a vacuum break of the suction of the suction cup 38.Furthermore the wear lift 46 is provided with a recess 48 to accommodatethe head of screw 41. Also, to preclude possible damage to the materialof the heel with subsequent leakage about the threaded shank 40 of screw41, a plate 49 is utilized whereby the pressures exerted on the heelmaterial by the threaded connection are distributed over a substan tialarea.

It is to be noted that the modification of FIGURES 8, 9 and 10 describesa somewhat different type of heel base 50 having a recess 51 adjacentits periphery to receive the upstanding rim 52 of the lift 46. Thus uponassembly the rim 52 seats in the recess 51 to provide a firm seatingarrangement when the suction cup force is applied to the inner surfaceof the lift. The heel base 50 is provided with a central opening 53 sothat the upper portion of suction cup 38 may be drawn into firm clampedengagement with the bottom of sole 44. A rubber seal 54 having a nipple55 engaging with and sealing the upper end of member 37 is positionedbetween the insole 56 and the sole 44 of shoe 57. Any suction breakalong the threaded connection between the members 37 and 40 is therebyprecluded.

Now with reference to FIGURE 11 there is illustrated an elliptical wearlift which is particularly adaptable to that form shown in FIGURES 8, 9and 10. However, it is obvious that the elliptical lift 58 could beapplied to any one of the forms of the invention. The advantage of theelliptical form is that any one of the four corners of the ellipse couldbe utilized by an individual when switching from a worn heel area toanother lift area. Therefore, instead of a dual usage lift such as thatof FIGURE 1, one may have a quadruple usage lift arrangement in hisshoe. In other words a person could actually utilize four surface areason one lift prior to having to throw the lift away, by merely releasingthe suction cup connection and rotating the lift relative to a heel baseto any one of three other positions. With a circular lift, infinitepositions of adjustment are available.

Now with regard to FIGURES l2 and '13 the attachment means illustrated,namely that of the suction cup and the retaining screw in each of theforms illustrated, it may be desirable adjacent the peripheral edge of alift to provide a releasable wire attachment clamping device. Theclamping device may comprise a pair of substantially contacting wiremembers 59 and 59' running horizontally around in the lift memberadjacent to the edge thereof and forced into contact with each other bythe pressure of the rubber in the heel 60. The wear lift 60 inattachment to a heel base 61 would then be obtained by having a headedstud member 62 with an enlarged or knob type head member 63, engage,separate and clamp under the spread wires 59 and 59 as illustrated inFIGURE 12. The member 62 would be provided with a retaining head 64 toprevent removal from the heel base 61. Obviously this feature wouldnormally be accomplished during the manufacture of the heel plate.

Referring now to the modified form of FIGURES 14, 15 and 16 a shoe 65 isillustrated as having a sole 66 and a heel base 67. The base 67 isrecessed at 68 to receive the enlarged head 69 of threaded stud 70. Thestud 70 projects through the base 67 and an opening 71 in a wear lift'72. The opening 71 is of slightly smaller diameter than the stud 70 sothat material of the lift '72 is compressed about the stud to effect aseal during assembly of the lift on the base. In contrast to the otherforms of the invention, no separate suction cup is utilized. Instead thelift 72 is formed as shown in FIGURE 15 with an inverted conical recess73, and will provide a suction producing means. A cap 74 engages thethreaded stud 70 and will perform the dual function of being a secondaryattachment and a suction break preventative. Thus during assembly therecess 73 will be flattened against the base 67 with the peripheral edge75 of the lift 72 engaging and sealing against the base surface. Placingthe cap 74 on the stud 76 will prevent the possibility of suction break,and therefore the lift 72 will be held against lift 67 primarily by thedepressed pressure condition between the base 67 and the lift 72. Therecess 76 in lift 72 for cap 74 is vented by a passage 77 to prevent asuction cup effect between the lift and the ground surface. The lift 72which may take any suitable geometrical form is prevented from rotationrelative to the base 67 by pointed studs 78 imbedded in the base andprojecting therefrom to protrude into the upper surface of the lift 72.

With a lift run down at the wear area, a persons walking is hampered toa degree, and of course it is desirable to keep the lift area in goodcondition. This invention permits a person to switch the lift of theright shoe to the heel base of the left shoe, or if he is able to rotatethe device to a different wear area by utilizing the elliptical form ofFIGURE 11, with one simple attachment means as illustrated by all of theforms. With the one attachment means a person would be more likely toattempt to repair a pair of shoes himself rather than take them to ashoemaker as is the present case. In other words the entire attachmentby means of the suction cup and stud makes it possible fora person torepair or replace his own lifts, adjust their position, and save repairbills.

It will be obvious to one skilled in the shoe art that the invention maybe subject to other structural modifications well within the purview ofthis invention and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a shoe heel construction for attachment to an upper shoe body theinvention which comprises a wear lift, said lift having a recessed areain its upper surface with an inwardly extending lip extending around theopening to said recess, a heel base, a suction cup having a downwardlyand outwardly flared lip portion for interengagement with the recessunder the lip portion of the lift, means to secure the suction cupthrough the heel base to the shoe body, whereby said lift is secured tosaid heel base upon the creation of the decreased pressure zone betweenthe suction cup and the interior of said wear lift, and releasable meansextending through the lift and interengaging with the suction cupwhereby to selectively retain or break the suction of said suction cup.

2. In a shoe heel construction for attachment to an upper shoe bodyportion, the invention which comprises a suction cup, said suction cuphaving an upper flanged portion interengaged with the shoe body portionfor retention thereby and having a downwardly and an outwardly flaredsuction portion, a wear lift for securement to said shoe body, said heelhaving a recessed upper surface portion for interengagement with thesuction cup member, and attachment means extending through the lift forinterengagernent with the suction cup to selectively hold or break thevacuum in said suction cup.

3. In a shoe heel construction for attachment to an upper shoe bodyincluding a heel base, the invention which comprises a suction cupmember, said suction cup member having an upper portion of a flangedcharacter to interengage with the body of a shoe whereby to retain thesuction member to the shoe, and said suction cup having a downwardly andoutwardly flared suction portion, a wear lift having a recessed uppersurface area for interengagement with the downwardly flared portion ofthe suction cup, a threaded nut attachment means embedded in the body ofthe suction cup member, and an attachment means extending through thewear lift and into the suction cup member for in-terengagement with thethreaded nut whereby to selectively and effectively hold'or break thesuction of the suction portion of the suction member, and respectivelyhold the wear lift against the heel base or release the lift from thebase.

4. A shoe heel construction for attachment to an upper shoe bodyincluding a heel base, the invention which comprises a wear lift, saidlift having a recessed upper surface to form a suction producing means,and means extending between the lift and the base to releasably hold thelift against the heel base so as to prevent a break of the suctionproduced upon deforming the lift into full surface engagement with thebase.

5. The invention according to claim 4 wherein the releasable holdingmeans comprises a pair of interconnecting threaded members.

6. A shoe heel construction for attachment to an upper shoe body,including a heel base, the invention which comprises a wear lift with acentral opening, said lift having a recessed upper surface to form asuction producing means, a threaded stud extending downwardly throughthe heel base and through the opening of the wear lift, said stud beingof sufficient diameter to compress the material of the lift about theopening and a sealing cap threaded upon the end of the stud below thelift to releasably hold the lift against the heel base so as to preventa break of the suction produced upon deforming the lift into fullsurface engagement with the base.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,387,976 Goodman Aug. 16, 1921 1,407,506 Winter Feb. 21, 1922 2,121,353Hustad June 21, 1938 2,122,108 Modlin June 28, 1938 2,234,542 AndersonMar. 11, 1941 2,421,792 Levine June 10, 1947 2,440,404 Johansson Apr.27, 1948 2,441,828 McLennan May 18, 1948 2,738,599 Phillips Mar. 20,1956

